Character, gutsy, and determined.
That sums up the U18-triple-a Cariboo Cougars second consecutive weekend sweep.
Kadric Mujcin’s snipe at 4:32 of overtime sealed that fate for Cariboo skating to a 4-3 victory on Sunday over the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs from Kin 1.
His sharp-angle snipe from around the icing found a big enough crease over Chiefs netminder Devin Miller to secure another four-point weekend.
However, the rest of the game wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Cariboo jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the end of 20 minutes courtesy of Mujcin and Wyatt Callender.
A too many men on the ice call mid-way through the second period changed the Chiefs fortunes as Jaxen McFegan accepted a cross-ice pass from Joven Kalkat at the edge of the crease to make it 2-1.
Kai Jang-Read evened the score for VNE six minutes later finding a crack in the armour of Cariboo goalie Riley Crompton.
Both teams traded power-play goals in the third as Lucca Brooks cashed in on a loose puck around the Chiefs goal while McFegan added his second of the game off a rebound.
On Saturday, Cariboo stymied the Chiefs skating to a 3-1 win on Pink In the Rink Night.
Sawyer Latkowski and Callender opened the scoring in the second period, which proved to be more than offense to go around.
Brooks added another on the man-advantage to make it 3-0. With less than two minutes remaining, Kalkat spoiled the shutout bid of Cariboo netminder Brennan Purych.
Purych had his best performance to date making 30 stops while former Cougars netminder Oscar Hicik stopped 26 Cougar shots in defeat.
Cariboo is 5-2-1-0 in the seven-team U18 league and is in Langley this weekend to play the Valley West Giants (2-5-0-0). Puck drop is 6pm on Saturday and Noon on Sunday.
In U17 action, Cariboo fell to the Vancouver Northwest Hawks by scores of 3-1 (Saturday) and 4-3 in overtime on Sunday.
Three unanswered third period goals from Rory Hall, Nicholas Sheldon and John Shirreff spoiled Pink in the Rink Night for the home crowd.
Garrett Harrop scored in defeat for Cariboo, which held a 1-0 lead through two periods.
Sunday’s rematch saw plenty of offensive fireworks in the second period as Harrop once again cracked the code for Cariboo for a brief 1-0 edge.
Leo Pielak and Luca Valente scored a minute apart to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. A cross-ice pass from Liam Lawlor found the streaking Valente who went to the backhand to beat Cougars goalie Jayden Avery.
Nigel Nitschke evened the score at 2-2 capitalizing on a Warner Callender feed lighting the lamp on Hawks netminder Andrew Shirgley.
Rory Monahan put the visitors back in the driver’s seat prior to intermission. With less than three minutes remaining, Linkoln Philpotts made it a 3-3 game as his wrist shot from just outside the faceoff circle found its way past Shirgley to force overtime.
Hall only needed 43 seconds to send the Hawks home with the weekend sweep beating Avery in extra time.
Cariboo sits third in the nine-team U17 league with a mark of 7-2-1-0. The Cougars hit the road Saturday and Sunday to play the Valley West Giants (0-5-1-1) in Langley.
Puck drop for both games is 3pm (Saturday) and 9am (Sunday).
The U15-triple-a Cariboo Cougars had a bumpy weekend to say the least at the Western Elite Invitational Tournament in Chilliwack.
Cariboo went 0-5 and was outscored 35-3 in the process. On Friday, the Cougars fell 8-0 and 7-1 to Yale and OHA Colorado.
Saturday’s lone game saw them fall 7-0 at the hands of the Pacific Hockey Academy.
The tournament concluded with a pair of 7-1 and 6-1 defeats to the Leduc Oil Kings and Calgary NorthStar’s Sunday and Monday.
Cariboo is 4-3-1-0 in the nine-team BC Elite Hockey League and hosts the Vancouver Northwest Hawks (3-3-0-0) at 3:45pm on Saturday and 9am on Sunday in Kin 1.
Lastly, the Northern Capitals women’s under-18 program put up a strong showing at the Canadian Crown tournament in Edmonton.
On Thursday, the Capitals split their first two games. A 2-0 shutout victory against RINK Kelowna was followed by a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Northern Alberta Extreme.
Lily Krueger and Kayla Szerencsi scored in the victory against RINK while Kezia Zamec pitched the 28-save shutout.
In the nightcap, Szerencsi, Krueger and Aubrey Fehr scored in defeat for the Capitals.
Christina Terzariol netted the game-winner at 9:35 of the third period for the Xtreme. Olivia Lin, Natty Lock and Bentley Hanson also found the back of the net for NAX.
On Friday, the Capitals pitched their second shutout of the tournament, scoring a 3-0 victory over the Interlake Lightning from Manitoba.
Leau Bijl, Taylor Rogina and Kesler Matthews scored a goal each while Zamec collected her second goose egg.
Saturday’s semi-final saw the Caps fall 4-3 in overtime to the Calgary International Hockey Academy.
Krueger notched her third goal of the tournament while Zoey Fehr and Sasha Fofonoff added singles in defeat.
Adria Quin scored twice for CIHA, including the overtime winner, while Abigail Thom and Trista Ferguson also lit the lamp.
It was a strong showing for the BCEHL at that tournament as the Capitals, Fraser Valley Rush and Thompson Okanagan Lakers all qualified for the playoffs.
The Lakers fell 3-2 to the Lloydminster Steelers in the A bracket final.
The Capitals are 3-3-0-0 in the five-team BCEHL and will host the Rush Saturday at 5:45pm and 9am on Sunday from Kin 2.
Fraser Valley sits second with a 5-0-1-0 record.
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